The Brotherhood Of Travelling Alchemists
by sleepy-emo
Summary: Agent Winry Rockbell has been placed on, what will be, the case of her career; she has to bring down the criminal mastermind known as Father. The only way she can even begin to think about doing that is by recruiting some help. That help comes in the form of a group of stage magicians about as volatile as the man she's trying to take down. Rated M for language
1. Chapter 1

**So this is something daft that I came up with (how most of my ANs start) I wanted to do something with stage magic and ended up with a procedural cop drama... as you do. Any hope you enjoy it :)**

"This," Olivier said as she clicked on the opening picture of the slide show, "is the criminal mastermind known as 'Father'." On the large screen that dominated most of the briefing room was a man in his early to mid fifties, with a mane of well kept but thinning ash blond hair, in a business suit. Winry made a mental note to commit that face to memory as, just from the picture, he seemed as if he would be good at keeping himself hidden.

"Father has been linked to an underground crime ring in Drachma, has links to the Xersian and Xingese Mafia and is reportedly behind a spate of petty crimes in Creta," Olivier continued as she flicked through more photographs of the same man in various different locations with a number of groups of people. "We have no proof of any of these links as most of Father's criminal activities are undertaken by his seven cronies."

Olivier clicked through a series of photographs depicting the different members of Father's group; a slender woman with long wavy dark hair, a man in his late twenties with a fur lines waistcoat and sunglasses, a thick-set giant of a man with scraggly hair and a vacant expression, an obese man who looked ready to devour everything in sight, an imposing man who was probably ex-army with an eyepatch and a thick black moustache, and a child who looked sweet and innocent but Winry suspected he was anything but, The last picture was a silhouette with a question-mark over the top.

"We have no idea who the final member of Father's group is," Olivier explained. "It is rumoured that he is a master of disguise and will probably try to infiltrate our organisation so security checks must be undergone. I want constant vigilance and will not tolerate anything less." _Highly unlikely that security will screw up after that_ , Winry thought. Olivier Armstrong was a terrifying woman.

"Director Armstrong," Denny asked, raising his hand a few seats in front of Winry. Olivier raised an eyebrow at him as if to question why he was even breathing let alone wasting it by talking. Denny wilted under her glare but continued regardless. "If none of this can be proved then why are we going after this guy in the first place? I mean who's even to say it's him at the head of it all at all?"

"Because," Olivier said after a long suffering sigh, "we had an agent of our own infiltrate his organisation. Unfortunately Agent Hughes was discovered and killed in action but he did manage too get a message to us of Father's next plan, in which he intends to bring down Amestris's National Bank."

There was a murmur that rippled through the briefing room. An economic lull after a change in leadership already had tensions running high, a bank crash would probably lead to a complete full scale rebellion. The lights clicked back on and Olivier turned off the projector.

"Agent Winry Rockbell will be taking the lead out on the field on this case," Olivier declared, "along with Agent Riza Hawkeye heading our internal investigations. All queries much go through them. You are all dismissed."

There was a clattering of notebooks and chairs as everyone scrambled to be the first to the coffee machine before it stopped churning out actual coffee and starting giving everyone brown sludge. Winry was in less of a hurry. She expected Olivier would have something more for her and she was right.

"Agent Rockbell," Olivier said, standing and waiting in the doorway for her, "a word before you go please."

"Director Armstrong," she said catching up to Olivier and matching her pace as she strode down the corridor to her office.

"Before Hughes was killed he was able to disclose that Father runs most of his criminal activity from a theatre in Central," Olivier told her.

"Did we get a name of the theatre?" Winry asked.

"The Dwarf In The Flask," Olivier said, handing Winry a photograph from the stake of papers she was carrying. "Ironic as the place seats two to three thousand and is lit up light a holiday tree."

"Not exactly what you'd call inconspicuous," Winry said looking at the huge building in the photograph.

"No," Olivier said. "Now since Hughes was discovered Father is going to be suspicious of anyone and everyone new he comes into contact with so you're going to have to be on the alert and sharp."

"Yes Director," Winry said, her voice wavering slightly. Olivier stopped in the middle of the corridor and turned to face her, narrowing her eyes.

"Are you sure you can handle this Agent Rockbell?" she asked. Winry blanched.

"Yes," she replied.

"I made you lead in the filed because I thought that you would be up to the task," Olivier said.

"I am," Winry said hurriedly, feeling her chance to lead a case suddenly slipping away.

"I need you to be one hundred percent certain about this," Olivier said. "If you're not, I can switch you with Hawkeye."

"I can do this," Winry said firmly.

"Good," Olivier smiled and continued down the corridor, her long blonde hair swishing behind her, Winry at her heels. "Now to infiltrate Father's organisation we will need to get someone up on that stage."

"Doable," Winry said. "Any information on what kind of bill they take?"

"Another rumour has it that Father is a huge fan of stage magic," Olivier said.

"Right..." Winry said trying not to sound too sceptical. "Do we know any willing to try and sneak us into Father's inner circle?"

"No," Olivier said. Of course they didn't, that would be far too easy! "Most stage magicians in Amestris operate under the supervision of the Führer's Magicians Association and guess who owns that."

"Father?"

"Got it in one," Olivier said. "Every single stage magician in Amerstris is in some way owned by Father... save five."

"Five magicians?"

"They call themselves 'The Brotherhood Of Travelling Alchemists'," Olivier said. "They operate outside of the FMA, never stay in one place for very long and I have it on good authority that Father has been trying to get them all in one place for years."

"So I find these guys, get them on side and get to Father that way?" Winry asked. That sounded much simpler than it was going to be.

"Basically," Olivier replied. "I know where three of them are currently staying, the other two is anyone's guess."

"So who are they and how do I identify them?" Winry asked as they reached the door of Olivier's office. Olivier ushered Winry inside and handed her a file once the door was closed. Winry opened it and the first thing she saw was a photograph of a good looking man in his late thirties with dark hair and a killer smile.

"That is Roy Mustang," Olivier said. "Currently operating in Central City. He's a notorious flirt and, when he's not using his skills to get into girl's knickers, he specialises in card tricks and pyrotechnic magic."

"Hot head, got it," Winry said as she flipped to the next picture, this one of a woman with long dark dreadlocks.

"Izumi Curtis," Olivier said. "She's an escape artist so pinning her down is going to be difficult especially if she doesn't want to help."

"Okay," Winry said making a mental note to bring an extra pair of handcuffs with her when going to talk to Izumi, "and where is she?"

"Currently in Dubleth," Olivier said. "From what I can tell she is set up with a local butcher so if you find Sig, you'll find Izumi."

"Great," Winry said flipping to the next photograph. This one was of a man who looked startlingly like Father, except his hair was more gold than straw and he wore glasses.

"That is Van Hoenheim," Olivier said. "I know, I had to do a double take when I first saw the photo but he's not related to Father, they just have similar heritage."

"And what kind of magic does he do?" Winry asked.

"Mentalism," Olivier replied. "Mind magic," she added in response to Winry's unvoiced question.

"Great."

"He'll try to get inside your head so keep your guard up," Olivier told her. "If you managed to recruit any of them try to make it him; it will be much easier to have him on side than not."

"Sure thing." Winry said turning to the last photograph. This one was of two men, both around her age – mid to late twenties – with long matching ponytails of the same flaxen blond, one mere inches taller than the other but it was so small a difference it was hardly noticeable.

"Those are the Elric Brothers," Olivier said. "Edward and Alphonse, I have no idea which is which and some people are under the impression that it's just the same person and he's very good at what he does."

"Which is?"

"They're illusionists," Olivier replied, "and we have no idea where they are. Last seen in Resembool although they high tailed it out of there as soon as Hoenheim rolled into town. No one has seen them since."

"And how will I know I have the right people when I find them?" Winry asked.

"This, Olivier said taking a piece of paper out of the bottom of the file and placing it on top of the photographs, "is a drawing of the tattoo each one of The Brotherhood has." It was an ornate drawing of a snake entwined around a cross with a crown above it and, what looked like, wings either side of that. "You find that tattoo you've got the right person."

"Okay," Winry nodded. Find the tattoo, find the magician... simple...

"So you think you can handle this?" Olivier asked. Winry looked up at her and nodded, determination blazing in her eyes.

"You can count on it," she said.


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm rather enjoying this although writing stage magic is hard haha hope you enjoy :D**

"Now if you blow on the top card here," Roy Mustang told the simpering brunette in front of him. The girl giggled before leaning over and blowing on the top card of the pile in Mustang's hand. Mustang flicked the card before he turned it over, presenting it to her. "Is this your card?"

"No," the girl said, her face falling as she had clearly gotten excited over nothing. Mustang slapped the palm of his hand to his forehead and groaned.

"I'm so sorry," he said, "this normally works. Maybe if you blow on it again, a little harder." The girl looked sceptical as Mustang put the card back on top of the pile and presented it to her again.

"Okay..." she said and blew on the card a second time. Mustang flicked the card and presented it to her.

"Is this your card?" he asked.

"Oh my god, yes!" the girl squealed, her eyes lighting up. Taking the card from him and turning it over she let out a gasp as she read the writing on the back of it. "That's my phone number!"

"Thought you might be interested in giving it to me after I take you out to dinner tonight," Mustang said with a grin. The girl looked up at him, biting her lip seductively.

"If you play your cards right," she said.

"I always do," Mustang replied.

The girl took the tie Mustang was wearing between her fingers and began to play with it and at that point Winry had seen enough. The display was starting to make her feel a little sick and she desperately wanted to put an end to it.

"Excuse me," she said stepping forward. "Are you Roy Mustang?" Both Mustang and the girl turned to look at her. Mustang looked as if his luck had just come in while the girl looked irritated by the sudden interruption.

"Perhaps," Mustang said, "that all depends on who's looking for him."

"My name is Winry Rockbell," she said holding out her hand. _Don't drop the 'Agent' in yet, save that for if he starts getting fresh._ "I'd like a quick word if I may?"

The brunette took the card with her phone number on it and slipped it into Mustang's jacket pocket, pressing a kiss to his cheek and her body up against his as she did.

"Call me," she told him and sauntered away. Mustang watched as she walked away, his eyes focused on her backside. Winry rolled her eyes in irritation.

"Hello," she said clicking her fingers in front of his face until he turned to look at her. "Can I have your attention for a second?"

"Sure what can I do for you?"

"I have a proposition for you."

"Do you really?" Mustang smirked. "By all means go ahead"

"Have you heard of 'The Dwarf In The Flask' Theatre?" Winry asked.

"Owned by Father?" Mustang asked. "I have, why?"

"How would you like to perform there?" Winry asked.

"I can do crowds," Mustang replied, "but you won't catch me anywhere near Father."

"Not even for the fame and prestige that will bring?"

"Sorry," he said, "I can't be bought."

"Any man can be bought, Mr Mustang," Winry told him, "I just need to find your price."

"Let me ask you something Pretty Eyes..."

"Winry Rockbell," she corrected.

"Why are you so interested in me?" Mustang continued as if she hadn't spoken. "Is it my good looks or my charm?"

"I can assure you it's neither," Winry said flatly, "my interest in you if purely for your magical talents."

"So you like to play with fire?" Mustang asked smirking. He clicked his fingers and a stream of liquid coated the front of Winry's jacket.

"Was that lighter fluid?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"Ah but where did the lighter fluid come from?" he asked, grinning. Winry rolled her eyes. This guy was starting to get on her nerves so maybe a change of tactic was in order.

"Mr Mustang do you have a tattoo like this?" she asked holding up the picture Olivier had given her of the tattoo every member of The Brotherhood was supposed to have.

"You're not going to like where it is?" Mustang smirked.

"If you show me your penis or shower me in any more lighter fluid I'm going to take it away from you," Winry said firmly.

"The penis or the lighter fluid?"

"Take your pick, either suits me," Winry replied.

"There's no need to resort to that Miss Rockbell," Mustang said putting his hands up in defence.

"Actually it's _Agent_ Rockbell," Winry told him, flashing her badge from her inside jacket pocket. Mustang chuckled and shook his head.

"Didn't realise I was talking to the Feds," he said.

"Yes well maybe you should watch who you try to seduce next time," Winry stated as she put her badge away.

"Duly noted," Mustang said. "So what is it you want me for _Agent_ Rockbell?"

"You are aware of Father and the associations that he has, aren't you Mr Mustang?" Winry asked. "I assume that's why you tend to keep your distance from him."

"I am, it is and please call me Roy," Mustang said.

"Seriously?" Winry asked raising her eyebrow at him.

"Force of habit," Mustang shrugged.

"So you understand that this criminal needs to be brought to justice?" Winry asked hoping that she wasn't reading Mustang completely wrong.

"And how could I possibly help you with that?" he asked.

"Father is very interested in having 'The Brotherhood Of Travelling Alchemists' up on his stage," Winry said. "Once you're up there we can infiltrate his organisation, expose his crimes and arrest him."

"Sorry sweetheart," Mustang said. "Brotherhood's disbanded."

"What if I told you I can get you all up on that stage so that you can perform to thousands, bring down Father and then go back to using your magic to charm defenceless women," Winry told him.

"That sounds like a reasonable deal," Mustang said. "Anything else in it for me?"

"I don't bring you in for trying to seduce a Federal Agent on duty," Winry told him.

"That'll do it," Mustang grinned.

"You're incorrigible," Winry said.

"So I'm told." he said smirking. "So I'll need some way of contacting you to find out when you want me, will a phone number do?" He flicked the pile of cards still in his hand and presented the top one to Winry.

"That's my personal phone number," she said levelling him with a glare.

"Would work be better?" he asked. He placed the card back on the top of the pile, flicked it again and presented it to her. Sure enough the phone number on the front had changed to her direct dial for work. He placed the card on top of the pile, flicked it a third time and presented a Queen of Hearts with nothing written on it.

"On second thoughts I'll contact you," Winry stated.

"No problem," Mustang said. He placed the card on the top of the pile for the final time, flicked it and handed Winry the card with his phone number written across it. "That's my personal number if you ever want to get personal."

"I can assure you I don't," Winry said slipping the card into her pocket. "I do, however want to know how you did that."

"Sorry love," Mustang grinned, "no dice."

"I thought as much," Winry said. "I'll be in touch."

"I look forward to it." Mustang said and winked at her. Winry smiled politely, hoping to god that the rest of them weren't as bad as he was.

* * *

Dubleth, Winry decided was a lovely place; one she might like to either retire to or settle down in with a family. It seemed very much a local place where everybody knew everybody and there was no such thing as privacy. After years of secrecy with the Bureau, that sounded like heaven.

Because everyone knew everyone she only had to ask the first person she saw where she could find Sig's butchers and was pointed in the right direction without any resistance or having to flash her badge. Sig was a huge bear-like man; all muscle with a cuddly side that reminded Winry very much of Olivier's brother Alex. He had been very helpful when Winry asked him where Izumi was likely to be and pointed her towards the huge warehouse that held the meat lockets out the back, allowing Winry to go through unsupervised. So far this was turning out to be a very easy recruitment.

"Izumi Curtis?" Winry called, her voice echoing around the huge room. "My name is Winry Rockbell I was wondering if I could have a quick word," she continued when nobody answered. A clinking of chains caught her attention.

"Just a second," came a voice from the same direction as the clinking. Winry followed the sound until she came across a woman suspended from the ceiling, wrapped in the chains and struggling to get free.

"Oh my god!" Winry cried when she saw her and ran towards her, wondering what the hell was going on. "Hold on, I'll get you down."

"It's okay," the woman, who Winry assumed was Izumi, said, "I've nearly got this."

"How are you going to get down when you get out?" Winry asked.

"Oh..." Izumi said and suddenly stopped struggling. "I didn't think of that..."

"I can get a ladder or something," Winry said.

"If you could be quick," Izumi said. "I think I'm going to..."

Before Izumi could finish her sentence the chains slipped loose and Izumi fell from the high ceiling with a scream. A scream of her own left Winry's lips as Izumi plummeted into a huge metal skip with a crash that echoed around the room. Winry ran to the skip and tried to heave herself over the side so that she could inspect the damage. Best case scenario she was administering first aid, worst case she was calling a coroner. When she finally managed to heave herself up enough to see inside she found it empty.

"What the..."

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" a voice asked from behind her. Winry spun round to see Izumi standing behind her, grinning and completely unscathed.

"How did you...?" Winry looked from Izumi to the skip and back again a few times before she shook herself. "Of course, now are you Izumi Curtis the escape artist? Although I realise that question may be a little redundant."

"I'm Izumi Curtis, yes," Izumi nodded, "but I'm just a simple housewife."

"But you are Izumi Curtis of 'The Brotherhood Of Travelling Alchemists', correct?" Winry asked nodding to the tattoo just above Izumi's left breast.

"I don't do much of the travelling these days," Izumi said.

"But you still do the magic, yes?"

"What do you think?" Izumi asked as she climbed into a metal locker and closed the door behind her.

"Excuse me," Winry said going over to the locker and opening the door. Her jaw dropped as she found it empty. "What the..."

"Over here," Izumi's voice said from the other side of the room.

"How...?" Winry looked from the locker to Izumi and back again. She shook herself. _Stick to topic._ "You know what, it doesn't matter. I need to talk to you about something."

"So talk," Izumi said as she made her way back over to Winry.

"You know anything about a man named Father?" Winry asked slipping her hand into her pocket to clasp her handcuffs. If Izumi was going to try to keep escaping while she was talking then Winry was going to make sure she was pinned in one place long enough for her to finish her proposal.

"Enough," Izumi said. "Why?"

"Then you know what kind of activities he is involved in," Winry said.

"Enough to know that I'm not interested in getting involved with him," Izumi said. She opened the door to another locker and Winry darted over to it, slamming it closed with her hand before Izumi had the chance to slip away again.

"Look," she said smiling, "I think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot. I'm Agent Winry Rockbell." She held her hand out to Izumi.

"Izumi Curtis," she said taking Winry's hand and shaking it. Quick as a flash Winry pulled her handcuffs out of her pocket, snapped one around the hand that Izumi had out and grabbed the other, cuffing her to the handle of the locker door in the process.

"Haha!" she exclaimed when she had Izumi trapped in one place.

"Very good Agent Rockbell," Izumi said with a smirk, looking at the handcuffs and then at Winry. "So now that you have me what are you going to do with me?"

"I'd like to make a proposition," Winry said.

"Agent Rockbell please," Izumi snorted, "I am a married woman you know." Winry groaned and slapped the palm of her hand to her face.

"Not that kind of proposition," she clarified.

"I thought as much," Izumi stated. "You don't look like that kind of girl."

"Back to the subject at hand," Winry said trying to reign the conversation back on track before she lost it completely. "You know who Father is and what he does, how willing would you be to perform on his stage so that we can infiltrate his organisation?"

"Why?" Izumi asked. "He a big fan of stage magic?"

"Apparently so," Winry replied ignoring Izumi's hint of sarcasm. "I am trying to get 'The Brotherhood' back together so that they can perform on his stage and we can expose him for his crimes and arrest him."

"And what's in it for me?" Izumi asked.

"Fame, prestige, to perform again."

"I gave all that up when I settled down with Sig," Izumi stated.

"I'll let you out of those handcuffs," Winry stated.

"Oh you mean these handcuffs?" Izumi asked. She gave the cuffs a shake and before Winry knew what had happened they had left Izumi's wrists and were snapped around hers. She presented her free wrists to Winry and smirked. "First rule of magic Agent Rockbell; always be the smartest person in the room."

"Wait!" Winry called as Izumi walked away. "What about my proposal?"

"Tell you what," Izumi said turning back to smirk at her, "if you can get out of those cuffs in ten minutes then I'll do it. If not you're on your own."

She turned round and began to walk away but the clinking of metal against metal made her stop and turn back to see Winry free and standing a few feet away from the locker, the handcuffs dangling from the tip of her index finger. She sauntered towards Izumi and deposited the handcuffs into the open hand she raised.

"First rule of being a Federal Agent Mrs Curtis," she said as she continued walking out of the warehouse and back to the butchers, "always be the most prepared person in the room."

"Well then I guess you have my service," Izumi said smirking and catching up to her.

"Good, I'll get your number from your husband and I'll be in touch," Winry told her, feeling rather proud of herself.

"I look forward to it," Izumi said.

"By the way," Winry said turning to study her with narrowed eyes, "how did you do that? With the handcuffs and the chains and the locker?"

"If I told you that I'd have to kill you," Izumi replied.

"I could have you arrested for talk like that," Winry pointed out.

"I'd like to see you try," Izumi smirked.


	3. Chapter 3

**Lil bit of mesmerism for your evening, I've seen someone legit do this shit for real on stage and it's amazing! Anyway hope you enjoy :)**

Tracking down Hoenheim had actually been surprisingly easy. Olivier had said that he was in Resembool so Winry had decided to visit her grandmother before going to find him. What she hadn't expected was getting to Pinako's house, being confronted by a very excitable Den as she got to the porch, and finding Hoenheim sitting at the kitchen table with a whiskey in front of him. Winry had to look at the photo and the man sitting in front of her just to make sure that she wasn't imagining it.

"Winry," Pinako said smiling warmly at her, "this is a nice surprise. What brings you out to this neck of the woods?"

"She's here to see me," Hoenheim said before Winry had the chance to open her mouth. Pinako stared at Winry, then a Hoenheim and back again.

"Well I'll put the kettle on," she said and went over to the sink, "you make yourself comfortable and I'll bring you some tea."

"Thanks Granny," Winry said and slipped into the seat next to Hoenheim.

"It's nice to meet you Agent Rockbell," he said smiling at her. Winry narrowed her eyes at him.

"How did you know I was an Agent?" she asked. "Granny what did you tell him?"

"Not a damn thing," Pinako said.

"Right mind magic," Winry said shaking her head. "Second question; how do you know my grandmother?"

"Oh Pinako and I go way back," Hoenheim said purposefully avoiding her first question. "I've known her since before you were born."

"Funny," Winry said as she surveyed him, "she's never mentioned you before."

"Hardly surprising," Hoenheim shrugged. "I like to keep my affairs as private as I possibly can."

"Yes when you bare a striking resemblance to a criminal mastermind I imagine keeping off the grid would be a high priority. Although it must have some advantages," Winry stated. Hoenheim chuckled.

"I can assure you whatever elaborate plan you might have to try and substitute me for the real Father is unlikely to work but a valiant effort none the less."

"Pardon?" Winry asked taken aback.

"That is why you're hear isn't it?" Hoenheim asked. "You're hoping to use 'The Brotherhood Of Travelling Alchemists' to infiltrate Father's organisation so that you can arrest him from his crimes?"

Winry blinked at him, staring open mouthed. How on earth did he know all of that before she had even had the chance to speak? Olivier had said that he specialised in mind magic but this was beyond simple stage magic; this was actual mind reading!

"You've already made contact with both Roy Mustang and Izumi Curtis and enlisted their help," Hoenheim stated. "I must admit threatening Mustang with arrest for trying to seduce you was a nice touch; he is a terrible flirt."

"How are you doing that?" Winry asked. "Stop doing that!"

"Heonheim," Pinako chuckled from over by the sink, "stop trying to mess with my granddaughter's head. By the sounds of it she's had enough of a time trying to recruit the rest of your lot without you adding to it."

"Granny not you too," Winry groaned putting her face in her hands. Why did they both seem to know what she was going to say before she said it? Hoenheim chuckled as he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a mobile phone.

"Modern technology is a wonderful thing," he stated.

"Very funny," Winry snapped glaring at him. "So from that I'll assume Mustang and Curtis told you I was coming?"

"When someone's trying to get 'The Brotherhood' in the same room together of course they're going to let the founder know," Hoenheim said.

"Oh good then the other two will be expecting me," Winry said.

"I very much doubt it," Hoenheim said. "They don't really do phones."

"Hang on," Winry said suddenly picking up on something he had said before as Pinako put a steaming cup of tea in front of her, "you just said that you're the founder of 'The Brotherhood'?"

"I am," Hoenheim said taking a sip of his own tea.

"But why set up something like that when Amestris already has a magic association?" Winry asked after a pause.

"You know who is in charge of the FMA, don't you?" Hoenheim asked.

"Yes," Winry replied. "Father."

"Now tell me, Agent Rockbell," Hoenheim said levelling her with a stare, "would you really want to work with a man like that watching your every move?"

"I suppose not," Winry said.

"I set up 'The Brotherhood' because I wanted to operate away from him and I enlisted a few select friends that I knew weren't exactly his biggest fans either," Hoenheim told her.

"So then you understand why he needs to be brought to justice," Winry said.

"I do," Hoenheim nodded, "and I can assure you that you will have no resistance from me in the matter."

"There must be a catch," Winry said narrowing her eyes at him.

"Why do you think there's a catch?" Hoenheim asked, a small smile playing about his lips as he took a sip of his tea.

"Because, Mr Hoenheim, there is always a catch," Winry replied.

"See now that is the mark of a suspicious mind," Hoenheim chuckled.

"I am a Federal Agent Mr Hoenheim," Winry stated, "I have to be suspicious, along with working with my new found team of stage magician, which is already proving to be a chore and, so help me god, if you start singing Elvis I will have to put you in handcuffs."

"She's a feisty one Pinako," Hoenheim laughed.

"Of course she is," Pinako said winking at Winry, "she takes after me."

"So please name your terms Mr Hoenheim," Winry said smirking at him as if she had him completely figured out.

"If you can get both of my sons to agree to this little venture of yours and be in the same room as me then I am at your complete service," he said.

"Oh!" Winry blanched. She hadn't quite been prepared for that. "Sure I can do that."

"I admire your confidence but Edward in particular is very stubborn when he sets his mind to something," Hoenheim said, "and he has set his mind to never being in the same room as me again."

"I am very persuasive Mr Hoenheim," Winry stated. "I'm sure I can get him to come around."

"Then I believe you," Hoenheim smiled.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Winry said, "but are these your sons?" She handed Hoenheim the picture of the Elric Brothers from the file. Hoenheim sighed as he picked up the photograph and looked at it sadly.

"Alphonse has grown his hair since I last saw them," he said.

"Which was?"

"About a year and a half now," he replied. "I keep track of them, any father would, but Edward made it very clear the last time he saw me that he thought I was a rotten father and that he didn't want to see me again."

"So do you know where they are now?" Winry asked. "If we're going to have a family reconciliation I need to know where I can find them."

"Last I heard they were making a nuisance of themselves outside 'The Dwarf In The Flask' Theatre," Pinako stated. "What?" she asked in response to Hoenheim's raised eyebrow. "You think I haven't been keeping tabs on them as well?"

"Perfect," Winry said. "Right in front of all the trouble."

"That sounds like my boys," Hoenheim chuckled. "So yes you'll find them performing out on the streets, usually in front of a big crowd."

"Edward always has been a bit of a show off," Pinako grinned. "I bet he takes a shine to you Winry."

"And I can say without a doubt that I won't be interested because I am on assignment," Winry stated with a tone that said that was to put an end to the matter.

"Are you sure?" Pinako asked. "I've met the boys and both Edward and Alphonse are fine looking young men."

"Granny, even if he was interested, much like I told Mustang, I am a Federal Agent on a case," Winry said, "my interest in him will purely be for his magical talents and nothing else, no matter how aesthetically pleasing they are."

"Are you sure?" Hoenheim asked. "You haven't had a partner since..." he placed his hand to his temple theatrically, "Paula? Penny?"

"Paninya," Winry said and suddenly realised what she had just admitted to. "Shit!" Both Hoenheim and Pinako laughed.

"And that ended six... no seven months ago?" Hoenheim asked. Winry glared at him and turned to her grandmother.

"What did you tell him?"

"Not a damn thing," Pinako said lighting her pipe with a smirk.

"No it was nine months wasn't it," Hoenheim said.

"Stop it," Winry told him, glaring and taking a sip of her tea. Both Hoenheim and Pinako just laughed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Today has been a very long, very tiring day for me but this has made me feel a little better, hope you all enjoy it :)**

"Ladies and gentlemen, step right up to see the Amazing Elric Brothers," a golden haired young man said to a small crow on the streets of Central.

"There's only one of you," a heckler shouted from the crowd. The golden haired man looked around.

"Oh shit, yeah..." he said. "Al!"

No answer.

"Al!" he yelled again. There was a titter from the audience. Ed groaned. "He always does this at the start of a show. Guess I've got to go find him now."

There was a huge explosion of bright blue smoke and a crackle of electricity and once the smoke had cleared Ed was nowhere to be seen. There was a gasp from the audience as they stared at the empty space where he had been standing.

"Well he's not here," Ed's voice said and the crowd turned as one to see him standing behind them. A small round of applause rippled through them.

"Brother I'm over here!" a voice cried from the roof of the building they were standing in front off and another golden haired man, presumably Al, appeared.

"How the hell did you get up there?" Ed asked.

"I don't know," Al called back. "I think I'm stuck though."

"Hang on, I'll get you down," Ed said with a long suffering sigh.

There was another explosion of smoke and Ed suddenly appeared on the roof next to where Al had been. He was now nowhere to be seen.

"Al!" Ed cried again.

"Over here," Al waved from another roof.

Winry watched the exchange, watching as Ed and Al jumped from roof to roof... or at least seemed to.

It was a very convincing trick if Winry hadn't known that both Ed and Al looked exactly alike. It also helped her case that she could just about see the edge of one of the projectors they were using. Ed seemed to love the theatricality of it all and, from what Hoenheim had told her, he also loved showing off.

Once both brothers were back on the ground (not that Winry thought they had ever really been on the roof) she watched them perform a series of tricks where unsuspecting members of the audience gambled money to guess how a trick was performed. Regardless of whether they seemed to guess correctly or not Ed would reveal the trick to have a much more complicated explanation, losing the audience member their money. It really was a very clever little set up but Winry had had enough of smoke and mirrors illusions to last her a lifetime.

"Well thank you all for coming," Al said once the show was over, "We'll be in town for a few more days so make sure that you catch another show if you can."

There was a small round of applause and the crowd began to disperse. Al gave Ed a clap on the shoulder and began to clean up, counting the money they had 'earned' as he went. Winry waited for the last of the crowd to leave before she thought about making her move to approach them but a tall, gangly man in a white suit with a greasy black ponytail beat her to it. He stormed up to Ed and roughly grabbed him by the collar.

"Give me back my money, punk," he snarled. Ed blinked up at him in confusion before recognition set in.

"Hey man I'm sorry," he said, not sounding it in the slightest, "but you guessed wrong, you lost your money fair and square."

"You're lying, you little shit," the man spat. "I saw how you did it."

"You might have thought you saw," Ed chuckled, "but that's the thing about magic; you don't actually know, I do."

"I'm getting my money back one way or the other," the man said. "You can give it to me or I can take it." He let go of Ed's collar and pulled out a switch-blade knife and Winry took this as her cue to intervene.

"Problem gentlemen?" she asked stepping forward.

"This doesn't concern you, sweetheart," the man said, "so why don't you just keep on walking."

"You do realise that it's illegal to carry a knife with a locking blade in Central City, don't you?" Winry asked nodding at the switch-blade, ignoring the look on Ed's face that screamed 'what are you doing?'

"Listen bitch, you can either shut the fuck up and walk away or you can have the same when I'm done with this thieving mother-fucker," the man said gesturing between her and Ed with the knife.

With a speed that clearly impressed Ed and shocked the man, Winry grabbed the man's wrist, slammed it against her knee, making him drop the switch-blade, and shoving it behind his back, pushing it up into the middle of his shoulder-blades. The man cried out in pain as Winry gave his arm another hard jolt as she pulled out her badge and shoved it into his face.

"And you can either calm the fuck down and walk away or you and I can take a trip down the station and we'll see how a night in a holding cell calms you down," she hissed in his ear as she flashed her badge in front of hiss face.

"Alright, alright, alright!" the man cried out in agony. "I'll go!"

"Good," Winry said and released him. The man straightened his suit and reached for the switch-blade but before he could Winry darted forward and grabbed it. "I'll be having that, thank you very much."

"Fine," the man snarled. He straightened his collar again and turned away. "Pathetic; having a woman fight your battles for you," he threw over his shoulder at Ed.

"Yeah but at least I didn't get beaten by one," Ed replied smirking. The man turned and left, muttering under his breath as he went.

"And good riddance," Winry muttered as she pocketed the switch-blade thinking that it would need to be impounded as evidence.

"That wasn't too bad for a girl," Ed said grinning once they were alone. Winry looked at him coldly and he threw his hands up in defence. "I mean that was very good for a well trained, professional agent."

"Good save," she said frostily.

"Thanks," Ed grinned thinking he was off the hook. "Just so you know I had the situation completely under control."

"I'm sure you did," Winry replied flatly. She did have to admit that Hoenheim and her grandmother were right; Ed was a good looking man but, so far he had proved himself to be a bit of a prat. "Now, just so we're clear, I am speaking to Edward Elric, correct."

"Yeah I'm Ed Elric," he said eyeing Winry suspiciously. "Who wants to know?"

"Agent Winry Rockbell," she said flashing her badge at him. "I'd like to speak to you and your brother. I have a proposition for you."

"And what could a Federal Agent possibly want with us?" Ed asked crossing his arms over his chest.

"I'm going to cut right to the chase Mr Elric," Winry said, "I am getting together the members of 'The Brotherhood of Travelling Alchemists' so that I can infiltrate the organisation of a man named Father and expose him as the criminal he is. I have already enlisted the help of Roy Mustang, Izumi Curtis and Van Hoenheim, all I need now is you and Alphonse and we're good to go."

"And you expect me to just agree to this bullshit?" Ed asked.

"I was hoping both of you would agree to it, yes," Winry replied taken aback.

"Hey Al," Ed called over his shoulder, not taking his eyes off Winry, "get over here a second." Al jogged over to join them.

"What?" he asked before he turned to smile at Winry. "Oh hi, who's this?"

"This," Ed said before Winry could even open her mouth, "Is Agent Rockbell. She wants to get 'The Brotherhood' back together."

"I already have," Winry cut in. "Mustang, Curtis and Hoenheim are on board but Father will only accept all five of you up on the stage."

"So we'll be seeing Dad and the others again?" Al asked, his eyes lighting up in excitement. Ed put his hand out.

"Hold your horses," he said, "we haven't agreed to anything yet."

"Oh come on Brother," Al said, "I bet it will be fun."

"Being watched by both the Feds and Dad again?" Ed asked crossing his arms over his chest, "No thank you."

"But we haven't performed on a stage in years!" Al protested. "Just imagine what we could do with that kind of budget."

"Go finish clearing up," he said. Al opened his mouth to protest but thought better of it.

"Nice to meet you Agent Rockbell," he said smiling at Winry before returning to what he had been doing. Winry turned back to Ed and smiled.

"Well he's certainly excited by the prospect," she said nodding in Al's direction. Ed looked over his shoulder, sighed and turned back to her, shuffling his feet.

"Yeah 'cause he doesn't know any better, does he?"

"I understand you just want to look out for him," Winry said.

"Yeah well no one else is fucking going to," Ed mumbled. "So what's in it for me?" he asked after a pause.

"Excuse me?" Winry asked, furrowing her brow.

"Well the way I see it is you need me and Al for this little venture of yours to work," Ed smirked, "so what's in it for me?"

"I don't arrest you for being a con-artist," Winry said glaring at him and folding her arms in a gesture to match his. Ed seemed to weigh this up in his head.

"You sure drive a hard bargain," he said grinning and shaking his head. "Tell you what Wendy..."

"Winry."

"Tell you what Winry," he corrected himself, "you tell me how we did our little roof hopping trick and I'll do it."

"Doesn't Al get a say in this too?" Winry asked.

"Oh you heard him," Ed said, "he's already excited and planning the reunion with Dad and the others."

"And if I guess correctly you'll do it?"

"Yep."

"Mirrors and projectors," Winry said.

"Pardon?"

"You used mirrors and projectors to get the images of yourselves up onto the different roofs, that coupled with the fact that you and Al are practically identical," Winry stated. Ed stared at her with a raised eyebrow. "I'm right, aren't I?"

"Not even close," Ed laughed shaking his head.

"What?"

"You're completely wrong."

"But I saw the projectors!"

"You thought you saw the projectors," Ed smirked.

"Then how did you do it?" Winry asked. Ed shrugged.

"Magic."

"That's ridiculous. I did see them," Winry said. She turned and pointed to the top of the building behind her. "I saw them up... there." What Winry had originally thought was a projector now seemed to be the edge of a spotlight.

"But..." Winry turned back to face Ed only to find him no longer there. "Mr Elric..." she called.

No answer. She looked around the remains of what had been their show. Neither Ed or Al seemed to be anywhere and, as if by magic, they had completely disappeared. Winry sighed and hung her head. Of course those two would have been the most difficult and most awkward to get hold of. She turned, just about to leave, regroup and try again, when something tied to the street lamp in front of her caught her attention. It seemed to be a small white card tied to the pole with a piece of red ribbon, the tattoo design on the front.

Winry undid the ribbon and turned the card over, looking at the other side. She chuckled and shook her head. In a slightly messy scrawl were the words ' _We'll do it, E &A_'. Winry put the card in her jacket pocket and pulled her phone out of another. She dialled the number she was looking for and held the phone to her ear.

"Riza," she said when the person on the other end of the line picked up, "I've got all five, we're good to go."


	5. Chapter 5

**Next chapter :D glad everyone seems to be enjoying this so far, hope you enjoy the next installment**

"So they're all here then?" Wiry asked Riza as they walked down the halls of the Bureau's Central branch towards one of the briefing rooms.

"Yes," Riza replied. "You know that dark haired one..."

"Mustang?" Winry guessed.

"That's him," Riza said with distaste. "He introduced himself by making a few badly chosen sexual comments so I threatened him with a gun."

"Nicely done," Winry said.

"Thanks."

"I threatened him with arrest and that seemed to cool him off," Winry said.

"I've assembled you a team that will be able to deal with them, both as a group and individually, and it's mostly men," Riza said.

"Wise," Winry agreed. "We can't afford to have this operation jeopardised because Mustang can't keep his dick to himself for five minutes."

"The female agents with you are either married or won't take any of his shit," Riza said. Winry chuckled.

"Do we have any agents who would take his shit?" she asked.

"Vanessa."

"Bury me in a 'Y' shaped coffin Vanessa?"

"How many Vanessas do we have?"

"Good point," Winry replied as they reached the briefing room. Through the glass she saw Al talking animatedly to Hoenheim, who was smiling fondly at his youngest son. Izumi was showing Denny how easily she could get out of a pair of handcuffs, Mustang was trying (and obviously failing) to impress Rebecca and Ed was sitting in the corner, scowling at anyone who came near him. "I'd love to see him try it on with Olivier."

"What Mustang?" Riza asked laughing. "She's kill him.

"Exactly."

"Um excuse me, Agent Rockbell?" a voice asked. Winry turned to see an agent in a suit with long dark dreadlocks pushed out of his face with a headband standing behind her. Winry narrowed her eyes at him.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"This is Yven Powell," Riza said, "he's on your team."

"Are you new?" Winry asked, still having trouble placing his face. She thought everyone was supposed to be keeping an eyes out for a spy of Father's and here was someone she'd definitely never seen before. Yven's face fell.

"I've been bringing you coffee for the last three years," he said.

"Ah..." _Well this is awkward..._ "Did you do something different with your hair?" Winry asked. She was clutching at straws but there had to be something to jog her memory of who this guy was. Yven smiled and shyly fiddled with the end of one of his dreadlocks. _Yep the hair, that was what it was._

"I tied it back," he said.

"It looks good," Winry said smiling at him.

"Thanks."

"Shall we go in?" Winry asked changing the subject.

"Sure thing," Yven said and pushed the door of the briefing room open and went inside.

"Good save," Riza whispered to Winry as she made to followed him.

"I still have no idea who he is," Winry replied.

"Well he passed the background check," Riza shrugged. "Anyway you get in there and get your briefing started, you'll be great."

"Thanks," Winry smiled and entered the room.

The chatter died down as she closed the door behind her and she turned to see every pair of eyes in the room on her. Well... every pair except one. Ed was still scowling at the corner like it had personally offended him in some way.

"Right so everyone has already been briefed about this operation but I'll give a quick run through of it anyway to bring us all up to the same speed," Winry said. "With the help of the members of 'The Brotherhood Of Travelling Alchemists' we are now prepared to make contact with Father to set up a performance at 'The Dwarf In The Flask' Theatre. Once we have confirmation of that we can begin preparations to infiltrate his organisation and start to get proof of the crimes he's linked to. So what have we got?"

"Photographs of Father meeting with known members of the Xingese maffia," Yven said handing Winry a stack of photographs.

"Fantastic," Winry said having a swift look through the photos. "If we can find out what this meeting was about, even better."

"Working on it," Kian stated from the back of the room.

"How?" Winry asked surveying him.

"We're opening up chains of communication to all phone lines throughout Amestris and the neighbouring countries so that we can tap into his phone line," Kian said. "Once we have a link inside then we can get them with a wire and record Father's meetings."

"Good," Winry said, smiling at him. "Well done Kian."

"Thanks," Kian said looking incredibly pleased with himself.

"Do we have anything on the seventh member of Father's organisation?" Winry asked. "The so called 'master of disguise'?"

"We've got nothing," Rebecca replied.

"Great," Winry sighed.

"Although," Rebecca continued, "I did manage to get a interesting tit-bit about him from one Mr G. Cason."

"Who?" Winry asked. Rebecca put a photograph down on the table of the obese man from Father's organisation talking to a plain-clothed Vanessa.

"Cason is an easy link to Father because he's not the brightest bulb in the closet," Rebecca said, "but by the sounds of it even 'The Suicide Squad' don't know what this seventh guy looks like."

"The Suicide Squad?" Winry asked.

"What Father's organisation calls themselves," Rebecca replied.

"Well that's more than we knew before, good work," Winry said. "Although we can't keep that link open; if we're seen to ask too many questions, stupid or not, Cason is going to get suspicious and then we're fucked."

"Can you say fucked?" Mustang asked raising his hand and grinning cheekily. Winry levelled him with a glare.

"I am the leading agent on this case, I can say whatever I fucking want," she stated. Mustang put his hands up in defence before he crossed his arms and settled back in his chair. Winry slowly counted to ten to hold her temper. "Now..."

"Question," Ed said from the corner, clicking his fingers and raising his hand. Winry sighed and put her hands on her hips.

"Mr Elric?"

"How exactly are stage magicians like us going to help you get close to this Father guy so you can prove he's a criminal mastermind or whatever?" Ed asked.

"Father is apparently very fond of stage magic, especially the work of you five, and this is the only way that we can get close to him," Winry explained. "We got you up on stage, we get into his inner circle."

"Then what?" Ed asked.

"Then you will only need to worry about producing a magic show that will keep Father's attention away from us while we gather enough proof to bring him down," Winry said. "If we get enough before the show you can even expose him there if you want."

"And how do you propose to do that?" Ed asked.

"Brother don't be difficult," Al hissed.

"What?" Ed asked shrugging. "I'm just interested, that's all."

"We have the finest team of hackers already on the case along with highly trained experts who will dig up every bit of dirt there is on Father," Winry said. "No matter what he is hiding we'll be able to get it."

"So it's a bit like misdirection," Al said.

"Exactly," Winry said and smiled at him.

"Okay," Ed snorted. Winry turned to glare at him.

"What?"

"No nothing," Ed said smirking.

"No you clearly have something to say so why don't you just say it," Winry told him, trying not to lose her temper.

"Okay if you really want to know then I think this is a terrible plan," Ed stated raising his hands in defence before crossing them over his chest again.

"How so?" Winry asked crossing her own arms and glaring at him.

"Well," Ed stated, "it's just that this Father guy is going to see this coming a mile away and then you're fucked."

"This is a good plan," Winry stated.

"No it isn't," Ed chuckled. "This guy probably knows he's being watched by the Feds so he's going to be suspicious when a group of magicians he's been wanting to see for years, and have previously avoided him like the bloody plague, suddenly turn up wanting an audience. Whatever plan you have he will see coming so you need to think more outside the box."

"Then if you have a better suggestion then, please, feel free to voice it now," Winry said as her temper began to get the better of her. She had been formulating this plan for months and then this jumped up little street-punk shows up and thinks he can tell her more about espionage and infiltration than years of training had taught her.

"Well I don't exactly have anything right now," Ed snapped.

"Then I would thank you to keep your comments to yourself Mr Elric," Winry told him coldly.

"Jesus who died and made you queen of the world," Ed muttered glaring at the wall again. Winry took a deep breath trying not to snap at him.

"Brother!" Al hissed in warning.

"Mr Elric I am the lead on this case," Winry said as calmly as she could.

"Yeah but you lead these lot not me," Ed said nodding at Kian and Denny who were sitting quite close to him.

"And thank god for that," Winry muttered a little louder than she had intended.

"See it comes out now," Ed said.

"Okay I'll admit that was unprofessional," Winry said, gritting her teeth.

"You meant it thought didn't you?" he asked looking at her smugly.

"Oh for goodness sake," Winry said rolling her eyes. "You're like a child."

"And this is exactly why I didn't want to do this in the first place," Ed said. "Being ordered about by a stick in a pencil skirt."

"I beg your pardon?" Winry asked. "Did you just call me a stick?"

"If the pencil skirt fits," Ed replied.

"Stick?" Winry asked again. She didn't know whether to be insulted of flattered, although she was leaning more towards insulted.

"Will you leave it Edward?" Hoenheim asked.

"Got something to say old man?" Ed snarled.

"Okay," Winry said raising her hands to stop the argument that was clearly coming. She was losing control of the meeting and she needed to bring it back to topic. "If we could all just calm down for a second..."

"Don't tell me to fucking calm down," Ed snapped.

"Charming," Izumi said rolling her eyes.

"Honestly Elric can't you control your temper?" Mustang asked smirking. That really got Ed's back up and he shot him a glare.

"And you can stay out of it and all!" he shouted.

"Okay, if we could all please just..." Winry began.

"Ten minutes in your company would be enough to send anyone to distraction," Hoenheim said.

"What is your fucking problem?" Ed asked getting to his feet and striding over to his father. Hoenheim stood, towering over his son.

"Edward if your mother were to see you like this..."

"Yeah well she's not here," Ed snarled. "Not that you were ever around when she was."

"Brother don't start," Al said placing a hand over his eyes.

"You know what?" Ed asked looking around the room, glaring first at Winry and then at Hoenheim. "I didn't want to do this in the first place so you can all go fuck yourselves."

With that he stormed out of the briefing room, slamming the door behind him. The room fell silent before Al pushed himself to his feet.

"I'll go talk to him," he said.

"Thank you," Winry said. She looked at the room of still expectant eyes staring at her and she had to fight the urge to cry. This was her first lead on a case and it was falling apart from under her before they had even gotten started. "Meeting dismissed," she said finally, "you all have your next assignments so just crack on till we make some headway."

Slowly everyone filed out of the room, muttering to each other as they went until only Winry, Yven and Hoenheim were left.

"I apologise for my son's behaviour," Hoenheim said.

"It's fine," Winry said although the slight catch in her voice made it more than obvious that it wasn't. Hoenheim smiled at her sadly before leaving the room. Winry sank into a chair and placed her head in her hands. She took a deep breath to compose herself, finding that she suddenly felt incredibly tired. She felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Do you want a coffee?" Yven asked. Winry leaned her head against his hand.

"That would be great thanks," she said. Yven gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze before leaving. Winry looked up as he turned back to her.

"For what it's worth I think it's a good plan," he said.

"Thanks Yven," she sighed. He smiled at her before leaving the room. Once the door closed Winry sighed again and leaned her head against the table top. Maybe Olivier was right; maybe she should have let Riza lead the case.


	6. Chapter 6

**Oh man it has been a long week (and it's not over, I still have to work tomorrow) anyway hope you all enjoy this :D**

Winry's mobile phone began to ring on her desk and she groaned when she saw the caller ID. She was still reeling from the blazing row that had cut short her briefing, that she was sure had already gotten back to her boss, and she was not prepared in the slightest to deal with a dressing down from Olivier. It would, however, be much worse for her if she didn't answer the phone. She took a deep breath and pressed the answer button.

"Director Armstrong," she said trying to sound cheerful, "what can I do for you?"

"I hear your briefing went down in flames," Olivier said. No point in asking how; Olivier knew everything. Even from Briggs she knew exactly what was going on in Central and who was doing what.

"Well..." Winry began slowly, trying to work out how best to describe what had happened, "it could have gone better."

"I heard everyone walked out and you yelled at a magician," Olivier stated.

"That... is an accurate description of what happened, Winry said, placing a hand over her eyes. _Could this day get any worse?_

"Do you have anything of use for me?" Olivier asked. "Or would you like to offer an explanation for this latest disaster?"

"I've got all 'The Brotherhood' in one place," Winry said a little defensively deciding to ignore the latter request. There was a soft knock at the door and Winy looked over to see Yven holding two paper cups of coffee. She mouthed 'thank you' at him as he put one of the cups on the desk in front of her and waited.

"You're going to need more than that Agent Rockbell," Olivier stated. "We need results and we need them fast."

"I know," Winry said, "and I will get results."

"Good," Olivier said. "Who knows when Father is next going to strike and we can't afford too have a bank collapse on our hands.

"I'll get right on it," Winry said. She looked up and at that exact moment she saw Ed walking passed the office. She couldn't pass up the opportunity to talk to him on his own. "I'll call you back when I have something more."

"See that you do," Olivier said and put the phone down. Winry sighed and pushed herself to her feet, taking a huge gulp of coffee.

"You okay?" Yven asked as she shuddered.

"That was hotter than I thought," she puffed through the burn on her tongue, "and I've been better." She walked passed him to open the door and stuck her head out into the corridor to see Ed just about to turn at the end. "Excuse me, Mr Elric," she called. "Can I have a word?"

Ed turned and fixed her with a bored scowl; he clearly didn't want to be there and, quite frankly after his earlier outburst, she was surprised that he still was. She walked down the corridor to meet him, Yven at her heels.

"What do you want?" Ed asked when they reached him.

"Listen I think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot slightly," Winry said hoping to try and make amends before cornering him. "Can we have a truce?"

"Sure." Ed said after a longer than necessary pause.

"Great," Winry said smiling. _Good start._ "So, next thing, this show..." she began tentatively, hoping that now he was alone he would be a little more amenable to the idea.

"Not happening," he said.

"But..."

"Listen I meant what I said; I'm not doing it."

"Give me one good reason why not," Winry demanded, thinking he was simply being childish.

"For a start I don't want to," Ed said. "You never asked me, you corralled me," he added when Winry opened her mouth to protest. "And while we're on the subject you actually blackmailed me."

"Excuse me?"

"You said that if I didn't agree to be in your little gang then I'd be arrested for being a con-artist," Ed said.

"Because I caught you conning people out of money!" Winry cried.

"That's neither here nor there," Ed said.

"No it's precisely here and there!"

"That doesn't make any sense," Ed smirked.

"Oh shut up and get on with your list," Winry snapped.

"Okay, I think it's a stupid idea," Ed said.

"Why?"

"Because this guy will see you coming from miles off and I don't want to be bumped off in a freak accident by a psycho!"

"You'll have the protection of the Bureau," Winry said.

"Like how you protected your last undercover?" Ed asked.

"How did you...?" Winry began, staring at him with wide eyes. _How does he know about Hughes?_

"Magic," Ed replied childishly. "Also," he added when Winry didn't respond, "I don't want to work with Hoenheim or Mustang."

"Why not Mustang?" Winry asked.

"You've met him," Ed stated, "do you really need an answer to that?"

"Good point," Winry sighed. "Please Edward..." she began in one last ditch attempt.

"I think I preferred all the 'Mr Elric' shit," Ed said glowering.

"Fine Mr Elric," Winry sighed, shaking her head.

"Also the show has already been booked," Yven said suddenly.

"What?" Ed snapped.

"When did this happen?" Winry asked, turning to stare at him in surprise.

"Director Armstrong told us to make contact with a member of Father's team as soon as we had 'The Brotherhood' together so I took the liberty of booking it before the briefing," Yven said giving Winry an apologetic shrug. _Just fucking great!_

"Well next time run something that important by me before you just go ahead and do it," Winry told him.

"Sorry," Yven muttered and looked at his feet.

"Mr Elric we need you," Winry told him. "Please..." Ed just rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Whatever," he said, turned and walked away.

"Is that a yes or a no?" Winry called after him but he didn't answer, just disappeared around the end of the corridor. Winry sagged and made her way back to her office. "Yven?"

"Yes?" he asked, his face wary as if he knew he was about to get shouted at but Winry didn't have the energy.

"What are your thoughts on drinking at work in the middle of the day?" she asked.

"I would have to say that it was unprofessional and the marks of an alcohol dependency," Yven replied.

"Fair enough," Winry sighed thinking that he was probably right.

"But," Yven continued, "under the circumstances I think it would be understandable."

"Wonderful," Winry said plastering a huge fake smile onto her face and pulling a small bottle of whiskey, that Hughes' wife had given her for Christmas, out of her bottom desk draw. She was just about to open it and pour a large helping into her coffee when the phone on her desk began to ring.

"Shall I get that?" Yven asked.

"Please," Winry said replacing the bottle, wondering if it was Olivier to chastise her for even considering drinking at work.

"Miss Rockbell's office," Yven said. Winry was marginally indignant to the lack of proper title but, seeing as he was already in the dog-house and he had agreed with her that drinking at work was acceptable today of all days she was willing to overlook it. "Okay... yes... I'll put her on right now."

"Who is it?" Winry asked expecting the answer to be Olivier.

"I don't want to add to your list of problems but a Miss Solaris Bailey is on the phone about 'The Brotherhood Of Travelling Alchemists' show at 'The Dwarf In The Flask'," Yven said.

"Great," Winry said even though this was anything but. _Could this day get any fucking worse?_ "Hello Miss Rockbell speaking."

"Miss Rockbell," a lilting voice said down the phone, "it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Solaris Bailey, I'm a representative of Father on behalf of 'The Dwarf In The Flask' Theatre.

"Ah Miss Bailey," Winry said trying to sound as if she knew what was going on, "I've been expecting your call. This is about 'The Brotherhood Of Travelling Alchemists' show, correct?" Yven nodded at her as if in confirmation. Well at least she was on the right track and sounded at least halfway informed.

"It is yes," Solaris said. "When can we expect you for your sound-check tomorrow?"

"Beg pardon?" _Tomorrow!?_

"Your message did say that you wanted the show as soon as possible when 'The Brotherhood' were all still in one place," Solaris said. Winry looked up at Yven in surprised irritation; he really had over-stepped the mark this time.

"I have no idea," he whispered. "I just told them we would confirm a time as soon as possible, I didn't give them a day."

"Right," Winry muttered after placing her hand over the receiver so that Solaris couldn't hear her, "find out who else has made contact and get them here now!"

"Yes Ma'am," Yven nodded and darted from the room.

"Miss Rockbell?" Solaris asked.

"Yes, sorry, I'm still here," Winry said removing her hand, "just found the memo I sent." _Lie_ , she thought, _lie through your teeth now and murder someone later_.

"So when can we expect you for sound-check?" Solaris asked.

"Can I say half past four now and if there are any changes I'll get back to you?" Winry asked.

"Of course," Solaris replied.

"And just to check, so that we don't have our wires crossed, the show is this weekend?" Winry asked, the facade that she knew what was happening falling faster and faster.

"Correct," Solaris replied.

"Fantastic," Winr said although in reality it was anything but. "Well I shall call you tomorrow and confirm details."

"Oh Miss Rockbell," Solaris said almost as an afterthought, "one more thing before you go, if possible."

"Yes."

"Father would like to meet you."

 _Fuck!_

"Pardon?" Winry asked once she had managed to pick her jaw off the floor.

"Father would like to meet the woman who has convinced 'The Brotherhood' to perform for him," Solaris said again.

"Oh..." Winry said trying to wrack her brains for a plausible excuse why she couldn't go and coming up with nothing. "When?"

"This afternoon if it's not too much of a bother," Solaris replied.

"No that's fine," Winry said, her treacherous mouth taking over where her brain was failing. "What time?"

"Three o'clock," Solaris told her.

"Okay I'll make a note of that now," Winry said, her hand shaking as she wrote '3PM' in large letters on the nearest blank piece of paper. It looked like a death sentence.

"Don't be late," Solaris told her, "Father is not a man who likes to be kept waiting."

"No of course I..." Winry began, the click and dial tone that indicated Solaris had put the phone down cutting her off.

Winry put her own phone down and was suddenly overcome with the overwhelming urge to vomit. She pulled the plastic bin out from under her desk and placed it on her knees so that she could retch into it. When she no longer felt sick she picked up her phone again and dialled Riza's number. As she listened to it ring she opened her bottom draw and eyed the whiskey, considering taking a swig for the second time that day.

"Hawkeye." Riza's voice startled her out of her thoughts.

"Riza," she said, "we have a problem."

"Aside from the oldest Elric going AWOL?" Riza asked.

"Bigger," Winry replied.

"What's happened?"

"Father wants to meet me," Winry said that urge to be sick suddenly coming back with a vengeance.

"When?"

"This afternoon at three," Winry replied.

"Okay," Riza said after a pause, "that gives us a few hours to get you fixed with a wire and ready for an audience with him. Where are you at the moment?"

"In my office."

"Does anyone else know about this?"

"Not from the Bureau," Winry replied.

"Good," Riza said. "Stay where you are, don't talk to anyone and you and I will sort this out before word gets round."

"Okay," Winry said, thanking high heaven that Riza was as level headed as she was. If anyone would know what to do in a situation like this then it would be Riza, which was a god send as Winry didn't feel as if she could make any rational thought.

"And Winry?"

"Yeah?"

"I'd have a shot of that whiskey if I were you." The line went dead and Winry let out the breath she had been holding. She put the receiver down and picked up the bottle. She stared at it for a moment before opening it. She had been meaning to take it home for months now but she was glad that she hadn't as she opened it and took a large gulp. _Well_ , she thought as she took a second swig, _in for a penny in for a pound._


	7. Chapter 7

**So Winry finally goes to meet Father and we all know that that is going to go so well :D anyway hope you enjoy**

Winry felt sick. Her clothes felt too tight, she was already beginning to sweat under her hair and she was seriously considering asking Hoenheim if he would put her under hypnosis for a minute or two. She couldn't work out if she shouldn't have drunk that whiskey at all or whether she should have downed the whole bottle. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves and thought that she should have downed the whole thing – at least if she was drunk she wouldn't keep worrying that she was going to die.

"So you know what you're doing?" Riza asked, her voice coming through on the ear-piece Winry had been fitted with.

"Yes," Winry replied quietly trying to make it look as if she wasn't talking to herself. She thought about glancing at the car she had come in – Kian in the front dressed as a chauffeur and Riza in the back, unseen by the tinted windows – but she thought better of it. It was just nerves and she didn't want to arouse any more suspicion than she probably already was.

"What's your safety signal if you want me to call for back up?" Riza asked.

"Snapdragon," Winry replied. "Please don't talk in my ear while I'm inside."

"I won't," Riza said. "I'm just making sure you know what you're doing."

"I'll be fine," Winry said although she felt anything but. With the wire Kian had fitted her with, so that he and Riza could hear and record her whole conversation with Father, she felt so far from fine. She was convinced that he was going to know just by looking at her; she might as well have a flashing neon sigh over her head.

"Okay, we're here if you need us," Riza said. "Good luck."

"Thanks," Winry said as she reached the huge front doors of 'The Dwarf In The Flask' Theatre. The place looked pretty dead and Winry wondered for a minute if she should just go inside and go from there when she saw a plaque behind a rope hanging down from the ceiling.

' _If no show please ring for service_ ' the plaque read. Well there's nothing else for it, she thought and gave the rope a tug, From inside she heard a shrill ringing and then slow, lumbering footsteps coming towards the door.

It opened and the huge giant of a man she had seen in the photographs stood in front of her. Winry's breath caught in her throat as she stared up at a man who bore an eerie resemblance to Lurch from 'The Addams Family', Frankensteins monster attributes and all, and who could probably kill her with one swipe of his dustbin-lid sized hands. She smiled up at him but she was sure it came out as more of a grimace.

"You rang?" Lurch-a-like asked.

"Miss Winry Rockbell," she said introducing herself, "here to see Father."

"Follow me," cane the reply and the huge man turned and lumbered inside. Winry darted in after him. He was so much larger than she was that one step for him was about four her and she found herself having to jog to keep up. She hardly had time to look around at the corridors he was leading her down she was too busy focusing on matching his pace and not getting lost in this maze of corridors.

Finally they reached an office door. There was nothing on the door to say who might be inside but Winry guessed that it was Father's. The man raised a huge fist that was probably the size of Winry's head and knocked.

"Enter," a deep voice said from inside. The man opened the door and lumbered in, Winry following.

"Miss Winry Rockbell here to see Father," he announced repeating word for word what Winry had just said to him.

"Thank you Patrick," the deep voice said again, "that will be all."

"Yes Father," the man – Patrick – said and moved aside. Winry had to stifle her shock as she saw Father himself sitting behind the desk. He really was uncannily like Hoenheim but now that she had met the both of them it was clear just how different from each other they were. She suddenly had the most overwhelming urge to run but she held her ground; she was here now so she might as well try and get something out of him. Patrick left the room, closing the door behind him.

"Miss Rockbell," Father said turning to smile at her. "I am Iesama Williams but you may call me Father. Please have a seat." He indicated the chair in front of his desk that was a little too close for comfort for Winry's liking but she sat down in it all the same.

"Thank you for seeing me today Mr Williams," she said. Father put up his hand and Winry felt her heart stop.

"Please," he said, "call me Father. I feel it gives a more family atmosphere to my work and makes me more approachable." If there was one thing this man was not it was approachable Winry thought but said nothing.

"Okay Father," she said.

"Now Miss Rockbell," Father said linking his fingers together on the desk in front of him. "I have been given to understand that you have been able to assemble 'The Brotherhood Of Travelling Alchemists' and are looking to put on a show in my humble little theatre." Another ironic statement that Winry let slide.

"Yes," Winry said, "and I can tell you that they are all very excited to perform here for you." That was a blatant lie, one Winry hoped wasn't noticeable. Luckily for her, her poker face seemed to be better than she thought it was.

"Wonderful," Father smiled. "I'm very fond of stage magic, as I'm sure you know, and I have heard a great many things about the talents of 'The Brotherhood'."

"If you don't mind me asking, how is it that you have kept a theatre like this afloat in a place like Central?" Winry asked. Maybe it was her nerves, maybe it was sheer adrenaline but she suddenly thought that she might be able to speed the whole process up by wrangling a confession out of him while she was there. If she could get him talking then she might be able to get him to admit something concrete, then they could pull the show and she wouldn't have to worry about convincing Ed to go along with it.

"I beg your pardon?" Father asked, the smile on his face faltering ever so slightly. _Oh god! Have I just fucked up? Have I just implied too much on an opening gambit?_

"What I meant to say is a theatre of this size, and in this location, is prime for the arts but I didn't think that Central had much of an arts market, what with it being mostly a garrison city," Winry said. _Good save._

"Oh I wouldn't worry about that Miss Rockbell," Father said chuckling, seeming happy enough with that explanation. "Often enough we have something on our bill, like an appearance of 'The Brotherhood', that will pull a crowd large enough to keep our sales up for the next half a year at least."

"Of course," Winry nodded. What had she been thinking; trying to get a confession out of him when she was supposed to have only just met him? This was asking for trouble and hinting that she knew too much would certainly land her in hot water. _Regroup!_ "And I can assure you that they will put on a show that the people of Central will never forget."

"They had better Miss Rockbell or, should I say, Agent Rockbell," Father said, his smile becoming slightly more sinister. Winry felt as if the entire world had suddenly come to a juddering halt.

"Come again?" she asked when she finally found her voice.

"Winry get the hell out of there, he knows who you are," Riza hissed in her ear, jumping to the conclusion that Winry was much too slowly coming to herself.

"I know who you are Agent Rockbell and I know all about what you are trying to do and, believe me when I say you will not succeed," Father stated.

"How..." Winry had no idea how to finish that sentence. Was it the ear-piece that had given her away? The wire? Of the fact that she was so hideously unprepared to be face to face with a mastermind like Father. Only Kian and Riza knew that she was there so unless he already knew when he invited her then no one could have tipped him off.

"I know everything there is to know about you Agent Rockbell and how you plan to 'prove me to the world as the criminal that I am'," Father stated, his smile shifting and becoming more sinister by the second, "but I can assure you that will not succeed no matter how hard you try. You have nothing on me."

"How can you be so sure?" Winry asked with more confidence than she felt.

"I have eyes everywhere Agent Rockbell," Father stated as he pushed a button on his desk and a shrill ringing could be heard in the corridor outside.

"Meaning?" Winry asked.

"Meaning I know what you are planning before you can even begin to execute it," he replied.

"And you really think you can get away with it?" Winry asked. She was so thankful that her voice was steady. If she cracked now there would be no coming back from it.

"Because I always do Agent Rockbell," Father sneered, leaning forward menacingly. "No, the only thing that will be revealed at this show is the tricks of 'The Brotherhood' otherwise your job and your life will be mine to destroy. Understand?"

"Yes," Winry replied too shocked to make any kind of comeback.

"Good," Father said, all smiles again. Silence fell over the room before Patrick's distinctive knock sounded at the door and he opened it without waiting for a response.

"You rang?" he asked.

"Patrick please escort Miss Rockbell out," Father said, "we're done here."

"Yes Father," Patrick said. He turned and began to walk away. Winry got up and made to follow him. At the last second she turned back to stare defiantly at Father.

"You won't get away with this you know," she said although she sounded more like a child than a Federal Agent.

"I already have," Father smirked and turned his attention to some papers on his desk, showing that the conversation was over.

Winry darted after Patrick, hardly paying any attention to where he was taking her until they had reached the front door. He opened the door without saying anything and Winry walked back out into the sunshine. She just about managed to hold it together until she heard the door slam behind her. She walked towards the car, still parked in the same spot it had been, in a daze, completely ignoring Riza talking in her ear until the shock finally set in and she was violently sick in the nearest bin.


	8. Chapter 8

**Let's just say the shit hath hiteth the fan...ith haha hope you enjoy**

The entire drive back to the Bureau's Central office passed by in a blur for Winry. Riza spent most of the drive talking about their next move but Winry wasn't listening, all she could think about was Father's lingering threat and whether he would actually go through with it or not. Then again it wasn't as if he was a man to be messed with and the kind of people he crossed never came off well. He was also definitely likely to make it look like an accident if he did do anything to here. There was nothing she could do about it. Well... there was one thing she could do about it; she could get Ed to actually agree to get on the stage with the rest of 'The Brotherhood'.

As soon as they arrived back at the office she had come out of her mini-coma and come back to herself. She ripped off the wire still attached to her and, without a word to either Kian or Riza, stormed up the stairs and inside. She was barely down the first corridor when she bumped into Yven coming towards her.

"Agent Rockbell," he said smiling at her, "are you okay?"

"Find me Edward Elric," she told him.

"He's in your office," Yven told her.

"Good start."

"Are you alright?" Yven asked.

"I will be once I've spoken to him," she said. She opened the door of her office and saw Ed, as bold as brass, sitting in her chair with his feet up on her desk.

"Hey Wendy," he said smirking at her.

"Winry," she snapped, "and please get your feet off my desk." Ed's smirk grew as he put his feet down.

"What's got your skirt in a bunch?" he asked, leaning forward on his elbows and completely oblivious to the glare Winry was sending his way.

"Mr Elric am I incredibly annoyed and under a lot of stress right now so I am going to ask you one more time; will you perform with the rest of 'The Brotherhood' this weekend or not?" she asked. Ed seemed to think about this for a moment or two before that infuriating smirk crept onto his face again.

"No," he said.

"Is there nothing I can say to change your mind?" Winry asked feeling that irritation that seemed to accompany being in the presence of Edward Elric for more than a few seconds bubbling up inside her once again.

"No," Ed said.

Winry grit her teeth and took a deep breath. She had to fight the urge not to smack him in the face, despite the fact that he was being a stubborn little shit that would be an even less helpful thing to do.

"Why are you so adamant not to?" she asked.

"Why are you so adamant that I do?" he retaliated.

"Because..." Winry started and then stopped. Should she tell him that Father had threatened to kill her if they didn't? If she admitted it to herself then it was a very real possibility and she might break, then she could lose the team's confidence if they got even the slightest hint that she was nervous. "We just need this to go ahead alright, we're in too deep to pull out now."

"That's what she said," Ed snorted.

"Oh my god you are so annoying!" Winry cried wringing her hands to keep from strangling him.

"What is going on in here?" Hoenheim asked as he entered the office, having been passing, Al, Mustang and Izumi behind him.

"Great," Winry muttered placing a hand over her eyes.

"What's it to you old man? Why are you getting involved?" Ed asked.

"Brother will you stop," Al sighed. "Can you not just let it go, he's only trying to help which is more than can be said for you. Why are you being so difficult?"

"I'm being difficult?" Ed asked as if this was news.

"Yes!" Winry, Al and Mustang all said at the same time.

"Come on Edward there's no need for this much anger towards me," Hoenheim said. "I know we've had our differences in the past but, please, for the sake of your brother and for the sake of the show..."

"Fuck the show," Ed snapped and got to his feet. "I'm done with this and I'm done with the lot of you. I'm not going to perform with any of you, ever again!" And with that he stormed out of the room, leaving a sea of confused and hurt faces. Winry closed her eyes, clearly she was going to be left at the mercy of Father.

"I... I should probably go and try to talk to him," Al said softly after the silence had stretched on for too long. Winry felt her spirits sinking even further into the floor, highly doubting that he was coming back even if he did managed to find Ed.

"This is all way too much drama for me," Izumi stated holding her hands up as if to say that she was washing her hands of the whole thing. "I'm getting on the first train back to Dubleth and going back to my husband."

"Wait..." Winry began to protest and persuade her to stay but she had no idea how she would even begin to do that.

"Sorry darling," Izumi said, "but I'm a bit too old for this shit." She left the room, leaving Winry feeling even worse than she had.

"Well if they're gone I'm not going to stick around," Mustang said.

"Oh come on," Winry groaned. "Why?"

"You can't expect us to do a show made for five with only two of us," he replied and Winry had to admit that he was right.

"No," she sighed. "If you want to go then go."

"I mean if anything else changes then let me know but I've got some other places to be," he said. "Girls to charm and all that."

"Just go," Winry told him. She sighed and flopped down into the chair behind her desk, covering her face with her hands, oblivious to Hoenheim and Yven still in the room staring at her expectantly. When it became apparent that she wasn't going to say anything Hoenheim cleared his throat.

"Well," he said after a pause, "I should probably take my leave too if we're done here." Winry looked up, filled with fear again that her one last chance at salvaging the situation was slipping away. If there was one person who could get them all back together to pull through this it was Hoenheim.

"Wait please," she said, "don't leave. We can fix this, we can still do this. I can't cancel on Father now."

"Look around you Agent Rockbell," Hoenheim said, "we have only one member of the troupe left and no way to get the rest of them to agree to come back."

"But if you could just talk to them..." Winry began.

"And you've heard what happens when I try to talk to Edward," Hoenheim said and Winry had to admit that he was right. Ed was the loose cannon and he was the one who had started this explosive storm out in the first place.

"But I have put everything into this. My entire career is on the line, I... I have to bring Father in now." She could feel herself falling apart as everything seemed to spiral out of control around her with no way for her to stop it.

"I'm sorry," Hoenheim said, "but there's nothing I can do."

"But..."

"It's over Agent Rockbell," Hoenheim said and left the room.

Winry let out a long exhale and let her head drop to her desk again. That was the end of it. She had failed and now she was going to have to explain herself firstly to Olivier that she had failed and maybe lose her job and secondly to Father and most likely lose her life. She could feel everything crumbling underneath her and she had no idea how to bring it all back together. It was all completely fucked.

"You okay?" Yven asked. Winry looked up and shook her head.

"I have no idea," she said.

"So what are you going to do now?" he asked.

"I have no idea," Winry said again shaking her head and feeling defeated. She was supposed to be the lead on this case and now that their first plan had failed she had no idea how to come up with something new.

"Is there anything I can do?" Yven asked.

"I don't think so," Winry said. "Not unless you can get Edward Elric to cooperate and stop being such a child."

"I can have a crack at it," he chuckled.

"Have fun with that," Winry smiled. She sighed and rubbed a hand over her eyes. "I literally have no idea what I'm supposed to do now."

As if to add insult to injury the phone on Winry's desk began to ring and she groaned loudly. _Can this day get any worse?_

"Do you want me to answer that?" Yven asked.

"Please," she replied.

"No problem," Yven smiled and picked up the phone. "Miss Rockbell's office."

"If it's Olivier I'm not here and you don't know where I am," Winry hissed. Yven nodded and winked at her.

"Yes," he said. "Okay... I will let her know."

"What's happening?" Winry asked.

"Still have no idea what you're going to do?" Yven asked after he had covered the receiver with his hand.

"No," Winry said. "Why?"

"You'd better figure it out quickly," he replied, "because Solaris Bailey is on the phone and she wants to talk to you."

"Balls!"

"My sentiment exactly."

"Right I guess I'd better speak to her then," Winry said taking the phone from him and taking a deep breath.

"Good luck," Yven mouthed.

"Miss Bailey," Winry said after giving him a small smile, "what can I do for you this afternoon?"

"Just checking in Miss Rockbell," Solaris said smoothly. "Just making sure that everything is going according to plan."

"Of course," Winry lied without thinking.

"So everything will be going ahead for sound-check tomorrow and the show on Saturday?" Solaris asked.

"Yep," Winry said cringing at her own stupidity. It would be obvious that she was lying as soon as no one showed up for the sound-check. She made a mental note to send Kian and some other agents along to buy them a little more time.

"Wonderful," Solaris said. "And is half past four still alright for tomorrow?"

"Of course," Winry lied. "Totally fine."

"Wonderful, we'll see you then," Solaris said and put the phone down. Winry groaned as she put her own phone down.

"Well that went well," Yven stated. Winry said nothing just sank back down onto her arms in despair.


	9. Chapter 9

**Here's the big climax chapter :D I hope it all makes sense (it's been a very strange week for me) and I hope you all enjoy it**

Winry stood towards the back of the auditorium in 'The Dwarf In The Flask' Theatre feeling as if every single eye in the room was on her. They weren't; most of the audience were looking expectantly at the stage waiting for the show to start. She could feel an excitement in the air, an electric tension that had the audience buzzing with anticipation. She wasn't though. The whole atmosphere was making her feel decidedly ill. Why hadn't she just cancelled the show then she wouldn't have to be there.

"We're all ready and set up," Kian told her appearing beside her.

"Okay great," Winry said.

"We're ready for an arrest if they do expose him as well," he added. Winry highly doubted that that was going to be a possibility when the act who were supposed to be doing the exposing might not even show up.

"Fantastic," she said nonetheless. "He's going to put up a fight but we must have all exits covered in case he tries to escape. We won't get another chance like this again so we cannot mess it up."

"Roger that," Kian said and disappeared into the crowd.

Winry cast a glance over her shoulder to the box, at the very back of the theatre reserved especially for Father. He sat there glaring down at her menacingly. Whether he knew that she had bought a group of agents to try and arrest him she didn't know, although she could hazard a guess. He seemed to know everything else she tried to do before she did it so why should tonight be any different.

"You alright?" Yven's voice asked, brining her rapidly out of her thoughts. She jumped and turned to face him.

"Yeah totally fine," she lied

"You sure?"

"Well my entire career is on the line tonight; if 'The Brotherhood' don't show up there is a good chance that I might lose my job and a psychopath might kill me and make it look like an accident," she said.

"There is that," he said.

"So I can safely say that I have been better," she said.

"Anything I can do to help?" he asked.

"Wait down the front to control the riot for if they don't show up," she said. She didn't envisage that an entire theatre's worth of people, who had paid a substantial amount of money to see an exciting act, wouldn't take too kindly to finding out that the show had been cancelled at the very last second.

"Sure thing," Yven said and began to wind his way down to the very front of the auditorium next to the stage.

Winry took another deep breath to try and steady her nerves. She wasn't sure if she had preferred it when she had people talking to her but it had proved a rather nice distraction from the constant worry that this entire evening was going to go down in flames. If she only had a few more hours to live then she should be trying to think of a way to salvage the situation.

The stage lights began to flash in a strobe and the lights in the auditorium went down. Winry felt her stomach, her heart, her everything drop to the floor. This was it. This was the moment of truth to know if it was too far beyond repair.

"Ladies and gentlemen," a familiar voice, that sounded surprisingly like Hoenheim, boomed around the auditorium, "we present, for your entertainment this evening a show of spectacular proportions." Five screens suddenly lit up at the back of the stage, each with a black silhouette on a white background.

"We have the pyrotechnic prowess of Roy Mustang," a voice that sounded like Mustang's said as his face faded across the screen on the far right. Winry closed her eyes. The build up was killing her and to know that nothing was going to happen made it all the worse.

"We have the escaping genius of Izumi Curtis," Izumi's voice said as her face faded across the far left screen.

"We have the mind-blowing mind reading of Van Hoenheim," Hoenheim's voice said as his face faded across the middle screen.

"And finally, for the first time ever on stage," Al's voice said, "we have the illusionary talents of Edward and Alphonse Elric." Ed and Al faded across the screens either side of Hoenheim's before the screens just showed the silhouettes again.

The backgrounds on each screen suddenly faded to black and the silhouettes turned into a recording of each of them looking as if they were walking towards the screens. Each of them suddenly seemed to brake into a run, getting larger on each of their respective screens.

"Ladies and gentlemen of Central," Ed's voice said, "we are 'The Brotherhood Of Travelling Alchemists!"

At Ed's last word the screens seemed to shatter, sending confetti and smoke across the stage and out into the auditorium. Once the smoke had cleared all five members of 'The Brotherhood' stood on stage waving at the crowd.

Winry stared, her jaw on the ground, as she took in the sight of them all waving and lapping up the crowds cheers and attention. _They are here... all of them... even Ed had actually shown up! How was this possible?_ Winry shook her head and closed her mouth, unable to believe what she was seeing but 'The Brotherhood' were on stage and performing, she wasn't going to complain too much that at least that had gone according to plan.

"Hello Central," Izumi said, "it's great to be here."

"And boy do we have a show for you tonight," Mustang added.

"So let's kick things off..." Al started.

"With a bang," Ed finished and a huge explosion of smoke surrounded both Ed and Al and once it had dissipated they were gone to gasps from the crowd.

* * *

Winry had to admit that, as much trouble as they had been, 'The Brotherhood' were very good at what they did. They all had excellent stage presence and they knew how to feed off both the crowd and each other to get everyone in the room bubbling with excitement. Their magic was very impressive too. Having seen some of it close up and first hand Winry was already relatively impressed but what they were able to do up on stage was amazing.

She really didn't have the presence of mind to relax and enjoy the show though. Despite that fact that the evening was proving to be a roaring success Father was still there, lingering in the back of her mind like a vulture ready to sweep down and attack at the first sign that something wasn't going his way.

The closer and closer it got to the end of the show Winry began to wonder if there was to be a grand exposing of Father's crimes. Why would there be? There hadn't been any headway on getting proof so it wasn't as if 'The Brotherhood' had anything that they could use as concrete evidence.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Al said, once the applause from the previous trick had died down, "thank you so much. You have been an absolutely wonderful audience this evening and we've all had an amazing time."

"We're going to leave you with one last trick but first we have to say thank you," Ed said.

"We wouldn't all be up on this stage for you tonight if it wasn't for Father," Izumi said and gestured up to the box at the back. The audience turned and a spotlight illuminated Father. He raised his hand and smiled as everyone applauded. Winry hoped to god that that had been planned otherwise he was going to be pissed and probably take it out on her.

"So thank you so much Father for letting us be here tonight," Mustang said as the spotlight clicked off and the audience turned their attention back to the stage.

"Now for our grand finale," Hoenheim said, beaming. "For this I would like the assistance of someone in the audience." He took his hat off before holding it out to Ed and Al. "Boys if you would do the honours." Both Ed and Al placed their hands into the hat and pulled out a ping-pong ball each. There was a murmur of excitement from the crowd as they looked at the numbers on the balls.

"Row A," Al said.

"Seat 24," Ed said.

"Fantastic so could the person in Row A, Seat 24 please make their way up on stage," Hoenheim said.

The audience clapped and cheered and Winry was very surprised to see Yven walking up the steps and onto the stage. He waved awkwardly at the crowd as he went over to stand next to Hoenheim who handed him a microphone.

"Hello," Hoenheim said smiling at him, "it's great to have you up here with us, for the benefit of the audience can you tell us your name."

"Yven Powell," he said.

"Okay well let's give Yven a huge round of applause," Hoenheim said and the crowd complied. Yven shifted awkwardly, he clearly didn't like being the centre of attention. "So I have already met Yven before," Hoenheim continued, "and you may be wondering if I planned for him to be in that seat. Well, Yven, did you know that this was going to be happening when you came here tonight?"

"No I didn't," Yven said truthfully.

"You just chose that seat without any idea that you might get called up on stage? Hoenheim asked.

"Yes," Yven replied.

"Fantastic," Hoenheim said. "Tell me Yven do you believe in hypnosis?"

"Can't say that I do," Yven admitted.

"So you don't believe that I could hypnotise you into telling this entire room of people something about you that no one knows?" Hoenheim asked.

"No," Yven replied, shaking his head.

"Would you like to test that theory?" Hoenheim asked. Yven seemed to stop for a moment, almost as if he were thinking it through. Even if he might have wanted to he would be unable to back out without looking incredibly suspicious.

"O... kay..." he said after a pause.

"Okay," Hoenheim said, "do you mind if I place my hand on the back of your neck?"

"Um sure..."

Hoenheim placed his hand on the back of Yven's neck and began to whisper in his ear. The audience watched with baited breath as Yven listened to whatever it was Hoenheim was saying. After a few minutes Hoenheim pulled back.

"How do you feel Yven?"

"No different?" Yven shrugged although his eyes seemed a little more glazed over than usual.

"Okay great," Hoenheim said. "So for the benefit of the audience, as I said before I know Yven and he is a federal agent but that's not all you do is it Yven?"

"No," Yven said. "I also work for Father." _Pardon?_ That was news to Winry.

"So what do you do when you work for Father?" Hoenheim asked. He placed his hand to his temple theatrically. "Something to do with costumes?"

"I am the seventh member of Father's Suicide Squad and have been working undercover at the Bureau for the last three years in order to discover what they know about him and deter them from finding out more," Yven said.

Winry felt as if everything was moving in slow motion and she didn't even want to look round and see the thunderous expression on Father's face.

"Interesting," Hoenheim said, "and what else can you tell us about the kind of work that Father does?"

"There is a lot of import, export of hard drugs," Yven said. "He's also been stock piling weapons of mass destruction in a warehouse down the street and has been planning on bringing down the Amerstrian National Bank to crash the economy and steal money from the country's citizens."

"Okay thanks for that Yven," Hoenheim said clicking his fingers. Yven seemed to snap back to himself, blinking slowly and, as the realisation of what he had just revealed sunk in, looked horrified.

"So," Izumi said, "it seems we have quite the criminal mastermind on our hands. Maybe we should go and check out this whole import, export business."

"I've got a GoPro here," Ed said holding up a tiny camera so that the audience could see it and switched it on. He fixed it to the front of his shirt and the screens at the back lit up with a panoramic view of the audience. "I'm going to go and have a look, see if I can find some of these hard drugs but I think I might need someone to come with me." He jumped down from the stage, a spotlight and the feed from the small camera following him until he reached a dark haired girl with pink streaks in her fringe. "Lovely lady down the front here, what's your name?"

"Rose," the girl replied.

"Fantastic and what do you do Rose?"

"I work for a charitable organisation that gets underprivileged kids off the streets and helps them build lives for themselves," Rose replied.

"Well let's give Rose a round of applause, that's amazing," Ed said clapping, the rest of audience following suit. "So with your job you'd be able to identify, let's say, cocaine just by looking at it?"

"Most likely," Rose said. "We get a lot of kids come in who have been taking drugs or forced to sell drugs."

"That's exactly what I need," Ed said, "so will you come with me and look for Father's hard drugs?"

"O... kay," she said sounding uncertain.

"Don't worry," Ed grinned as he took her hand, "we'll be back before you know it."

There was another puff of smoke and both Ed and Rose disappeared. There was a gasp from the audience especially when, on the screens, appeared the image of a huge warehouse filled with rows and rows of white bricks. Ed took the GoPro from his shirt and turned it so that the audience could see him and Rose; him grinning like a cat who had got the cream and Rose looking very confused.

"Oh my god!" she said, her voice sounding slightly tinny through the camera.

"Now," Ed said picking up one of the bags with his other hand and holding it out to Rose, "in your professional opinion what would you say the street value of this whole warehouse would be?"

"I'd say we're looking in the region of about three billion," Rose said, "but depending on where it's from it might be higher."

"Can you hold this for me please?" Ed asked and handed Rose the GoPro. She turned it so that he lit up the screen and the audience saw him carefully open the bag he was holding and dip his finger into white powder before sucking it off. "Damn! And that's good stuff," he said dipping his finger in again, this time rubbing it around his gums to really let it take effect.

"Alright Brother, you've had your fun," Al laughed.

"Fine," Ed replied. He took the Go Pro from Rose and handed her the bag of cocaine. There was another puff of smoke and they both appeared back on the stage, Rose still holding the cocaine and looking terrified. "Let's give it up for Rose!" Ed said and the crowd erupted into applause. Ed took the back of cocaine from her. "Although we'd better keep that, they'll want to impound it as evidence."

"Now obviously we can't do anything with these weapons of mass destruction," Mustang said as Rose left the stage, "but what about getting inside Father's bank vault?" There was a cheer from the audience. "Thought you'd like that."

"Now under your seats one of you will have a gold envelope," Izumi said, "if you do can you hold it up please." The audience all scrambled to look under their seats before a man near the back held a gold envelope up. "Okay, come on down."

The man, a tall guy from Ishval with huge muttonchops and glasses, made his way down to the stage and was helped up by Al. He handed the envelope to Izumi and she handed him a microphone.

"What's your name fella?" she asked.

"Miles," he replied.

"Okay Miles can you please open the envelope and show us all what's inside it," Izumi told him, handing it back to him. Miles opened the envelope.

"It's four numbers and a King of Diamonds," he said.

"Okay, can you sign the card," Izumi told him handing him a pen. Miles signed the card and as soon as he was done Mustang took it from him.

"I'll take that," he said. He flicked the card and it disappeared.

"And if you can read out the number on the card please Miles," Izumi asked.

"0310," Miles said.

"And that, I believe just let us into Father's bank vault," Mustang said.

"But don't take our word for it," Al said fitting another GoPro to Miles' collar, "why don't you take a look for yourself." He clapped his hands and Miles disappeared in a puff of smoke. The screens lit up again with an image of the inside of a bank vault.

"Miles can you hear us?" Izumi asked.

"Yeah," Miles said, his voice tinny over the camera's microphone.

"Now on that huge pile of money in front of you there should be a card," Mustang said, "can you tell us what is on that card?"

Miles went over and picked up the card, the camera showed an image of the King of Diamonds with his signature on it.

"Well I'll be," he said. "It's the card that I signed."

"See," Al said, "it's men like Father who think that they can just take what they want regardless of who they hurt. So it's high time we take something back from him. Miles do you see the huge red button next to you?"

"Yes," Miles said.

"If you want to give that a press and you'll be back here," Al said. Miles pressed the button and in a puff of smoke he reappeared on the stage.

"But that wasn't the only thing that button brought back here," Izumi said.

"We thought it was high time Father gave something back to you all," Hoenheim said.

Suddenly money began to rain down from the ceiling. Members of the audience began to scrabble around to catch as much of it as they could, 'The Brotherhood' standing on stage enjoying the chaos they had created. In the commotion Winry looked up at the box and saw Father trying to get away. She pulled her radio out of her pocket and clicked it on.

"Kian stay on Yven, don't let him get away," she told him. "If any of the others are here bag them as well, I'm going after Father."

"Okay roger that," Kian said. "I'm sending a few your way."

Winry put her radio back in her pocket, pushing her way through the crowd to get to the back stairs that lead up to the box. She ran up the stairs, ignoring the other agents flagging her as she did until a door opened in front of her and Father emerged. He lunged for her but Breada and another huge agent with a thin black rat-tail, who was usually on Olivier's team caught him and forced him into submission.

"Iesama Williams,"she said as she slapped a pair of handcuffs on him, "you are under arrest for a number of crimes, the most significant being an entire warehouse filled with imported cocaine. You do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence if you do not mention, when questioned, something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. With this in mind, do you wish to speak to me?"

"I'll see you hang for this," Father snarled.

"I'd like to see you try," Winry replied and tightened the handcuffs.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guys, so we have come to the end of this little story. Thank you all so much for your reviews, faves and follows, I'm sorry I've been shit and haven't replied to them, things have been a bit hectic on the sleepy front, but thank you so much, it means so much to me 3 anyway enough from me, hope you enjoy it**

Winry stood at the back of the auditorium and surveyed the slowly calming chaos around her. Once she had Father in handcuffs Breada and Buccaneer had dragged him, kicking and spitting like a hell-cat with rabies, outside and shoved him into a police van. The rest of his group had also been arrested, Yven included, and shoved into a second van. Thankfully they had all been at the show, which probably wasn't the smartest move on Father's part to have them all in the same place when there was a chance that they might be arrested but Winry wasn't going to complain. It had made her job easier.

With Father and his group all in handcuffs their next job had been crowd control. After the antics of 'The Brotherhood' they had to keep a riot from breaking out but it hadn't come to that. The audience, satisfied with the money and satisfied with the show, all began to leave once the money had stopped falling from the ceiling. Everything seemed to be calming down and returning to normal.

Winry stared out at the now empty auditorium and sighed contentedly. It was over! She was done, Father was behind bars with enough proof to put him away for a very long time, and she wouldn't ever have to work with volatile stage magicians ever again. That above everything else felt incredibly good.

"Evening," Olivier said appearing at her shoulder.

"Hi," Winry said smiling.

"Father and his gang are on their way to the nearest high security station and Mustang just gave me this," Olivier said, handing Winry a blue folder.

"What's this?" she asked, talking more to herself than Olivier. She opened the folder and found it filled with any and every piece of evidence that there was on Father, all labelled and filed perfectly. There were codes for his nukes, a list of contacts that he had of criminal organisations from other countries, everything that he could possibly be taken in for was there in black and white in the folder. "Well I'll be damned..."

"He also said that you deserved a promotion for putting up with them for all this time," Olivier said and Winry was genuinely touched. "Rocky start?"

"You could say that," Winry replied still looking in disbelief at the folder, "although that was probably a good thing, what with Yven being so close to me and in Father's pocket at the same time. Every time we made concrete plans they ended up changing because of them."

"That is very true," Olivier said.

"I had no idea about him," Winry said shaking her head sadly and closing the folder, "and Riza said he passed the background check."

"He was obviously playing the long game," Olivier stated. "Father new that sooner or later we would try to take him in and he wanted someone on our team to know when and how before we started."

"True," Winry said.

"Don't let that discourage you though," Olivier said. "You should be incredibly proud of everything you have accomplished here tonight."

"Thank you Director Armstrong," Winry said feeling as if there was a tiny balloon of pride welling up in her chest. She had never expected this plan to actually work, never mind that it would and she would be praised by the Director for it's success.

"I'm going to see if there's anything else of use in Father's office," Olivier said, "are you alright to finish up here?"

"Sure," Winry replied, although there wasn't much to do now that the auditorium was empty.

"I'll radio you when we're ready to leave," Olivier stated and left. Winry sighed happily again.

She looked over to the stage and saw Ed standing there. She could have sworn that he wasn't there a second ago but she paid that no mind. He waved at her, a gesture she awkwardly returned. He jumped down from the stage and began to make his way over to her.

"Hey you," he said, smiling as he reached her.

"Hey you," she replied.

"You alright?" he asked.

"I can safely say I have had less eventful weeks," she replied.

"Yeah sorry about that," Ed laughed.

"You fought me every step of the way," Winry said shaking her head at him. Ed just continued to grin.

"But we did it," he said.

"It would have been nice to have a head's up beforehand, even if you only told me and kept up the act for the rest of the team."

"I'll make a point of letting you know next time," he said.

"Next time?" Winry asked sceptically.

"You never know," Ed shrugged. "You can't get rid of me that easily."

"How did you do it?" Winry asked after a pause, ignoring the implication that Ed was planing on there being a next time.

"A magician never reveals his secrets," he grinned.

"No seriously," Winry said. "You knew from the get-go that Yven was working for Father otherwise why bother with the theatrics, aside from to fuck with me? How did you do it? How did you know and how did you execute all this?"

"I did just say..." Ed began cheekily.

"Seriously I need to know or I'll go crazy," Winry said.

"Okay," Ed said. "I'll tell you."

"Thank you."

"So pretty much as soon as you first contacted Mustang we've been planning this and setting it up."

"Really?" Winry asked, exasperated. "That long.

"What can I say we're resourceful," Ed shrugged.

"So all of that 'Brotherhood's disbanded' stuff..." Winry began.

"All total bullshit," he replied.

"Oh my god!"

"So knowing what we know about what you wanted us for Al and I start doing a little digging on this Father guy..."

"But the Bureau has the most sophisticated hacking team and technology in the country and we couldn't come up with even half the stuff like this," Winry said gesturing to the folder she was still holding.

"There are easier ways of getting dirt on people than trying to hack them," he said.

"Enlighten me."

"You seriously didn't think this was the first time somebody had approached us about performing in front of Father, right?" Ed asked.

Winry thought about that for a moment. They had all be so reluctant when she had first spoken to them and that suggested prior knowledge of the man. On the other hand that could have been an act as well so she didn't know what to believe on that front but it was quite obvious that a group like them were sought after.

"Okay so you started doing your digging, how did you find out about Yven?" she asked. "I mean I'm assuming you already knew that he was a double agent before you brought him up on stage because no one is that lucky."

"You sure?" Ed grinned cheekily. Winry just raised an eyebrow at him in response. "Okay, guilty."

"How did you know?"

"We followed him," he replied simply.

"What?"

"We staked out Father's place for about a week, making notes of everyone we saw him talking to and then eventually, at like three in the morning, your man Yven shows up."

"But what made you decide to follow him specifically?" Winry asked. That seemed quite a random thought process to suddenly follow.

"When you're watching someone 24/7 for about a week and then suddenly someone new shows up for a meeting in the small hours of the morning you know that is someone you should be tailing," Ed said.

"I suppose that makes sense," Winry said. "So you find out he's working for us as well as Father, then what?"

"We get a confession out of him and he also gets us all the evidence we could possibly need," he replied.

"How?" Winry asked, utterly baffled.

"I don't want to say this in front of him cause he's my old man, it's not like his head needs to get any bigger, but hypnosis is a very powerful thing when it's done right," Ed explained.

"So you made him get evidence for you?"

"In essence, yes."

It was ingenious, it really was. That was something Winry might have to consider in the future if someone was being particularly difficult when questioned although it did seem a little on the unethical side; to get someone who isn't _compis-mentis_ to gather evidence did seem rather morally wrong.

"So that's how you got all of this and enough to show it all off tonight?"

"Well Izumi snuck into his office and got quite a lot of it too so it was about half in half I'd say," Ed replied.

"Unbelievable," Winry said shaking her head.

"Believe it baby."

"So all the fights and the storm outs..."

"All for Yven to report back to Father."

"I wish you had told me beforehand," Winry said, "it would have caused me a lot less worry and grief."

"At least this way you had plausible deniability," Ed said.

"I suppose so," Winry sighed.

"How about I make it up to you?" he offered.

"How?" Winry asked.

Without any other warning Ed slipped his hand round the back of her neck and pulled her into a gentle kiss. It was short and sweet and when he pulled back, still keeping his hand on the nape of her neck, he smiled at her. Winry was stunned. That had been the last thing that she had thought was going to happen.

"Well you're going to have to do more than that," she said when she finally found her voice again.

"How about dinner then?" he chuckled.

"I could go for some dinner," she replied. "I just have a few things I need to do before I'm free but I'm kind of starving."

"It has been a long night," Ed said.

"Try long week," Winry laughed. She turned and left the auditorium, Ed at her heels and they walked out into the brisk night air. "There's one thing I would like to know though."

"Fire away."

"How did you get from here to the warehouse with the cocaine and to Father's bank vault?" she asked. "We've raided that warehouse and it's half way across town and that bank vault, we can't even find it in Amestris so I have no idea where it actually is and if it's even in this country. So how did you do it?"

Ed grinned and leaned in close to her. Winry wondered if he was going to kiss her again but instead he leaned over and whispered in her ear.

"Magic."

THE END


End file.
